US EPA settles air pollution cases with ADM, Alcoa, secures funds for school bus retrofits

10 April 2003

The US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reached settlements in Clean Air Act cases against Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and Alcoa, Inc., which involved allegations of excessive air pollution from plants operated by both companies. Under the settlements, the companies agreed to spend, in total, about $675 million to reduce air pollution. Some of the money—about $7 million—will be spent on programs to reduce emissions from diesel powered school buses.

ADM of Decatur, IL—the biggest ethanol producer in the USA—will spend about $350 million, mostly for new pollution controls in its plants, to settle charges it expanded corn and oilseed processing facilities without installing the required emission controls. $6.3 million will be spent on supplemental environmental projects, primarily on retrofitting diesel engines in school buses with particulate filters and other emission controls.

Alcoa, Inc. of Pittsburgh, PA—the largest aluminum producer in the world—agreed to spend about $335 million, mostly for a new coal-fired power plant with state-of-the-art pollution controls to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from the power plant at Alcoa’s aluminum production facility in Rockdale, TX. $750,000 of the money will be spent on retrofitting school buses.

The EPA recently announced a Clean School Bus campaign. A formal EPA funding assistance program to help state and local agencies retrofit shool buses with emission controls is expected to be announced in June.